SUPERMARKET chain Mercadona has announced plans to create 1,000 new jobs in the next five years, and it plans to increase wages of its existing staff above the level of inflation every year until then at least.

The store, which is based mostly in the Valencia region but has branches all over the country, guarantees a minimum take-home salary of 1,260 euros a month for every full-time member of staff from their first day at work and says it will increase wages by 0.4 per cent every year from 2014 and by 0.8 per cent from 2018, or more if inflation goes above this level.

The firm has pledged to 'maintain buying power' for all staff, meaning their wages will always go as far as they do today even where the cost of living rises – and on top of its existing 74,000 positions, plans to create a further 1,000 between now and the end of 2018.

According to its chairman and founder Juan Roig – one of the top-five richest people in Spain – says a new collective working conditions agreement underwritten by the firm and the country's main unions, the labourers' commission (CCOO) and general workers' union (UGT) is designed to promote continual on-the-job training, in-house promotion, and a better work-life balance.

Flexible and part-time hours for those with children aged 10 years and under in their care will be guaranteed, as will extra time off – even if it has to be unpaid – for parents of children aged eight or under are included in the agreement. This can include career breaks of several months for the purpose, or up to three years in the case of victims of domestic violence.